Megara
Megara, better known as Meg, is the deuteragonist from Disney's 1997 film Hercules and its television series. She is Hercules' love interest and a heroine. She is voiced by Susan Egan. Personality Megara is beautiful, independent and quick-witted, but also cynical and world-weary, making her atypical among Disney's lead females, and plays enough of a heroic part in the movie to be classed as a heroine, rather than just a romantic interest. She has a very low opinion of men in general, since her experiences with them are mostly negative. While Hercules falls for her at first sight, far from falling for him on the spot, she dismisses him as putting on an 'innocent farm-boy routine', and it is not until they spend real quality time together that she begins to fall for him. Megara is aware of her own sexuality, and is perfectly capable of using it to persuade men to do whatever she wants. But this is just another reason she has a low opinion of men, since it is a thing she is usually unwilling to do. Meg is afraid of heights, but apparently overcomes her fear by the end of the movie. In their first meeting in the episode Hercules and the Aetolian Amphora, Meg wants to forget all about her ex-boyfriend (later shown to be Prince Adonis) and shows very little remorse in using her sexuality to manipulate the young Hercules into helping her steal a jar of Lethe water. Her atire is almost identical in this episode, except that her skirt is much shorter. At the end of the episode her memory is wiped, explaining how she and Hercules met 'for the first time' in the movie. One of the things Meg is notable for is her death in Hercules. While she is not shown as being visibly injured by the falling pillar (due to censoring), she is shown to be in considerable pain in multiple scenes. The moment of her actual death is seen (her thread is cut and her hand falls limp) and she can be clearly seen dead several times. Her spirit is also seen in a similar state in the River Styx. Appearances Hercules In the film, Megara sold her soul to Hades in order to save her boyfriend's life, but shortly afterwards he had dumped her for some other 'babe', abandoning her. This leaves Megara feeling heartbroken and determined to never fall in love again. At first, Megara is simply used as a pawn in Hades' plot to defeat Hercules, and when Hades offers her freedom in return for Hercules' weakness, she willingly accepts the deal, but as she gets to know the demi-god she finds herself falling in love with him, though she is loath to admit it. She decides that she would rather serve Hades unwillingly, than betray Hercules. Unfortunately, through this, Hades realizes that Meg is Hercules' weakness. He uses Meg to persuade Hercules to give up his strength for 24 hours, under Hercules condition that Meg doesn't get hurt, and then spitefully reveals that she was working for him all along. His heart broken, Hercules loses the will to fight the Cyclops Hades turns upon him. Meg finds and unties Pegasus and battles her fear of heights to find Phil, persuading him to come back and help Hercules regain his confidence. After Hercules manages to defeat the Cyclops using his wits, Meg sees a pillar collapsing onto him, and in a moment of emotion, leaps to push him out of the way. Unfortunately, this means she is crushed by the pillar instead, sustaining huge internal injuries, but not having a visible scratch on her. This breaks Hades' contract, meaning he regains his strength. As he asks her why she did it, she finally admits she loves him. Touched by her love for him, Hercules promises Meg she will make it and leaves her in Phil's care while he goes to stop Hades taking over Olympus. After saving Olympus, Hercules races back to be with Meg rather than chasing Hades, but arrives seconds after she has passed away from her injuries. He then travels to the Underworld, and rescues her soul, which brings her back to life (and makes him a True Hero). Meg and Hercules then travel to the gates of Olympus, where Meg watches Hercules ready to enter Olympus, where she, being mortal, cannot follow. However, Hercules realizes that he wants to be with Meg, and gives up his chance to be a god on Mount Olympus in order to live a mortal life on Earth with her. Hercules: The Series Due to the fact that the television series is set back before Hercules met Meg, she only appears in the series twice. Her first appearance is in "Hercules and the Aetolian Amphora" in which she appears as a teenager. It culminates in her and Hercules's memories of their meeting being erased. Her second appearance is in "Hercules and the Yearbook", a clip show episode which shows she, now married to Hercules, finds his old yearbook and looks back on some of his school misadventures. House of Mouse Meg is a frequent guest at the House of Mouse, always appearing beside Hercules. Disney Parks Megara appears as a walkaround character at the Disney parks, though she is semi-rare. She was also a playable character in the now-removed Hercules attraction/game at DisneyQuest. In [[Fantasmic!|''Fantasmic!]] Megara made her appearance on Steamboat Willie with all the other characters including Mickey. Kingdom Hearts II First Visit She starts off on a mission to tell Hades to give Hercules a break from monsters but is chased by dog-like heartless, to which Sora offers to do for her. In the meantime she tries to convince Hercules to stop fighting (to avoid him from getting hurt). But he tells her that he'll be fine, Meg only hopes Sora won't let her down. Later Meg is kidnapped by Hades and trapped in the Underdrome. Hercules sends Sora and company to rescue her only to walk into Hades's trap with Pete and the heartless. Then after the fight Hercules arrives and makes sure Meg's ok, then tells Sora that he'll meet them back at the Coliseum after he shows Pete what happens when you you mess with a hero. On the way out Meg tells Sora that she doesn't want to leave Hercules. And they go help while Pegasus gets Meg out of there. But back at the coliseum the Hydra trashed the place and Hercules can't fight because he feels he let everyone down. So Sora, Donald, and Goofy fight the hydra and during the battle Meg and Phil offer useful things to throw at the hydra. After hydra's done Meg thanks Sora and friends for everything and promises to look after Hercules. Second Visit She and Hercules are at the underworld's enterance as Sora, Donald, Goofy arrive. Then Hades tells them about the openings of "The Ultimate Games" in the underdrome, and tells Hercules to be there unless he never wants to see Meg again. Meg watches sadly as Hercules fights Auron worrying about him. Then Sora, Donald, and Goofy comes and Hades who is furious that Hercules didn't lose dumps Meg in the pit of souls with Hercules diving after her. He comes out alive with Meg in his arms. Then she and Hercules thank Sora again and asks where they're heading next. Sora tells them that the "love-birds" would do fine without them around, Herc and Meg act embarrassed. Then Meg sees in the sky constalations in the shape of Sora, Donald, and Goofy proving that they are true-heroes. Trivia * Meg is recognized for her unusually colored purple eyes. Originally, they were intended to be blue, but were changed to purple as film production progressed. * Meg is known for her unique appearance and drawing style, which differs significantly from the "traditional" Disney style of animation. She has thick hair, an very slender waist, lengthy eyebrows, and a more angular stature. None the less, she is still beautiful. * At the end of Hercules' end credits, a thank you to the entire team is slotted in, which includes one of Meg's signature lines, "It's been a real slice". * Meg is one of the most slender Disney heroines, having a waist that is nearly half the width of her head. * Meg's official hair color has been debated for quite some time. In some scenes, it appears to brown, but depending on the lighting, it appears to have a red glow. Therefore, her hair might in fact be a rare shade of auburn. * Meg is one of the few Disney heroines to not change her outfit during her film. However, her purple dress is once accompanied by a transparent lavender shawl which she drapes over her shoulders. * Meg is the only Disney heroine to have sold her soul. With Ariel, it was her voice. * Meg is also the only Disney heroine to really belong to the bad side (or rather, to be caught between two opposite camps after her feelings for Hercules), because of his agreement with Hades. All other Disney heroines were still in the good side. Two cases are particular: Tinkerbell and Ariel. The first didn't hesitate to "help" Captain Hook by simplicity, by revealing him where Peter Pan and his friends were hidden and because of her jealously toward Wendy. But Tinkerbell was aware of Hook's nasty personality when she confessed these information. Ariel from ''The Little Mermaid executed an agreement with the antagonist Ursula, but it can't be considered as a partership, since Ariel was too much naive to be aware Ursula's machiavellianism, she made it for Prince Eric's love and she didn't know her revenge plans. In Tinkerbell and Ariel's negociations, their respective antagonist finally betray them (Tinkerbell by being locked by Hook and Ariel by Ursula's manipulations), which isn't not Megara's case, where the main protagonist is ironically betrayed (as soon as Phil learns the truth about Meg's relation with Hades and he warns Hercules in vain, and when this last one discovers too lately the truth), but not the villain. 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